The global street fashion giant continues to grow and does so at a good
pace: its first quarter fiscal results for the current year
(February-April) showed a 14 percent increase in total sales over the same
quarter of the previous year.

From February to April 2017 Inditex sold a total of 5,569 million
euros, catapulting its net profit for the quarter in question to 654
million euros, an increase of 18 percent year-on-year.

Market sources note that the textile group founded by Amancio Ortega
met the expectations of analysts and investors. Online sales have attracted
particular attention, with Renta 4 analyst Ivan Sanfélix emphasising the
fact that Inditex has managed to increase its turnover by more than 10
percent for ten consecutive quarters.

In this regard, Inditex president Pablo Isla assured at the analysts
conference held after the financial release that the company has
"satisfactory" grown its sales during this first quarter and argued that
the integrated model of physical and online stores offers the group
"significant growth potential over the next few years."

Inditex, 10 years of sustained sales growth in the first quarter

Data compiled by the Business Intelligence unit of FashionUnited shows
how sales, revenues and profits of the Galician textile giant have
maintained steady growth in the last decade, going from the 2.039 million
euros registered by the group in the first quarter of 2017 to 5,569 million
euros in the same period of the current fiscal year.

The graph shows the year-on-year performance of Inditex revenues and
profits in the first quarter, from 2007 to 2017.

Spain remains a key and future market for Inditex

"The business in Spain is still very healthy and we are very active in
this market with important openings," said Isla in his talk with analysts.

But it is not the only market that offers growth possibilities: Inditex
continues its plan to expand into new markets and has opened stores in 30
markets during this first quarter, closing April with a total of 7,385
stores in 93 countries. "All the brands of the group have increased their
international presence through its integrated platform of physical and
online stores," Inditex said in a statement. During the quarter, four new
online markets were incorporated, with the opening of the Zara virtual
store in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.

First quarter growth, good indicator for the rest of the year

Analysts polled by Bloomberg agree: Inditex will maintain the good pace
of the first quarter of its fiscal year. These experts expect the fashion
group to generate a net profit in line with the positive developments in
2016, when it grew 6 percent in the first quarter and 10 percent in the
full year.

Likewise, the analysis department of Sabadell bank predicts that the net
profit of Inditex will stand at 661.52 million euros, 19.4 percent more
than in the first quarter of 2017. On a similar note, analysts at Bloomberg
expect the group's profits to rise 18.2 percent to 654.6 million.

Meanwhile, Inditex shares remain the favorites of Madrid's trading
floor. The fashion group has a market value of 111,763 million euros, the
largest of the listed companies in the country. Following the release of
the results for the first quarter, the stock closed at 35.86 euros.
"Inditex continues to be a value we like have in the portfolio as it
presents several strengths, including the quality of its accounts: Its debt
is negligible, its average sales growth is double digit and has a growing
cash generation," explained from Bankinter. Sanfélix from Renta 4 explains
on the other hand that the fall in value in the park on Wednesday last week
was due to the "very high multiples that are quoted" and to the profit
taking by certain investors.

However, some voices have pointed to a certain "slowdown" in the start
of the second quarter. "We believe this may weigh on the short-term price,"
warned from RBC Capital Markets in a note to market.